“Wait a sec, he sent me a message. Oh, what do you have there, Princess?”
Princess was André’s cat, a fluffy Persian who’d shown up outside his apartment building with matted fur several years ago. Despite him postering the neighbourhood and calling every veterinarian in the area, nobody had ever claimed her, so André bought her a diamanté-studded collar and a litter tray. There was a shriek, then a clatter, and it sounded as if André dropped the phone.
Nolan kept a notepad beside the refrigerator, so I flipped to a blank page and found a pen. Then I added sugar to my coffee, seeing as Chase wasn’t around to chastise me, took a sip, burned the roof of my mouth, and waited.
And waited.
Finally, André came back. “So sorry, darling. Princess dropped a live frog in the kitchen. Where would she even find one of those? There aren’t exactly many ponds around here.”
“A pet store?”
“Do pet stores sell frogs?”
“Who knows? I’ve never been into one. Did you find the name?”
“Rayna—R-A-Y-N-A. Unusual.”
“And does your friend have Latoya’s number?”
“It can’t wait until next week?”
“Patience isn’t one of my strong suits.”
André sighed. “Then I’ll ask him. See you on Wednesday, darling. I’ve always wanted to spend a week in wine country.”
“You’ll be working.”
“Yes, but not twenty-four-seven. We’re not all workaholics like you.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
He hung up, and I leaned back against the counter. Rayna. If I recalled correctly, that was the name of the “friend” Marielle had caught with her fiancé. What happened to her? And did the confusion with the photo mean anything?
My phone buzzed.
Branning.
“Don’t you think the Cheesel case warrants sending an agent with more than three months’ experience? You might as well have GutterMuse change the name to ‘Room 72, sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.’”
“Just hear me out…”
I sighed, picked up my coffee, and headed for the study.
I woke up with a Post-it note stuck to my face. When I unpeeled it, I found it said Always U, and the U was shaped like a heart. Nolan used to leave me notes in Blackstone House as well, except they usually said things like “Don’t let the assholes get you down” and “There’s cheesecake in the fridge.”
I stuck the note on the bottom of my left-hand screen, then rubbed my eyes. After Branning’s call, I’d spoken with Weekes, and then I’d hit the dark web to see if any clips of Sasha’s torture session had been uploaded yet. One had. I’d just rested my eyelids for a second while I ran another search program, and…lights out. Okay, not literally—I’d turned on a floor lamp because I liked to keep the drapes closed for that cosy cavelike vibe.
“Why am I so tired?” I asked the universe.
“Because I switched your coffee for decaf,” came the reply, except it wasn’t the universe, it was Marielle, and she was standing in the doorway.
“How did you get in?”
“The door was unlocked.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
She laughed. “Okay, you got me. Nolan gave me a key.”
